Choir of Outsiders is a North West based music promoter specialising in contemporary and experimental folk. Come join the chorus.
Bobby Lee
Bobby Lee trades in a wide screen brand of cosmic country-folk, full of space and pawn shop guitars. There are touches of JJ Cale’s analogue Americana, the swampy groove of Tony Joe White and Richard Thompson’s sinewy, modal guitar work. Amps hum in the warm afternoon sun, kids and dogs snooze on the grass and broken drum machines keep time with the universe.
Bobby released his debut album, Shakedown in Slabtown, in August 2020, on his own Natural Histories imprint, which Mojo Magazine described as “word of mouth sensation amongst discerning heads.” It was swiftly followed by Origin Myths in March 2021, released on the legendary Tompkins Square Records, becoming album of the week on Huey Morgan’s 6Music radio show and gaining support from BBC’s Late Junction, No Depression, The Guardian, NTS and WFMU, amongst others. His latest single, “Walking With Trees”, a collaboration with Mia Doi Todd, was released in September 2021 via Re:Warm.
“Deep-fried galactic grandeur” Folk Radio
“Open sky instrumental wonders” 8/10 Uncut Magazine
Milkweed
This autumn Welsh slacker trad duo, Milkweed released their debut concept album Myths and Legends of Wales. All art, words and stories were taken from the book of the same name by Tony Roberts, which they found in a Hertfordshire charity shop. They recorded the album at home on their boat over the course of one day, hence the prevailing sound of trains throughout. All songs were recorded live with no overdubs and the band consciously did not make any demos prior to recording.
“Stylistically there is some similarity to the slacker end of the early 2000s anti-folk and freak-folk movements and their combination of anti-virtuosity, hyper-creativity and inherent weirdness… they seem intent on reviving the more outlandish, eccentric traditions of folk music, where old and new religions intermingle and where strange, bewitching sounds proliferate.” Folk Radio
Caitlin Gilligan
Caitlin Gilligan is from the rolling hills of rural Galloway. Now based in the North-West of England, her songs still echo the wildness of her Scottish youth. Stirring age-old folk songs into a set of bare-boned and poetically-crafted originals, she demonstrates refreshing insight whilst simultaneously summoning the voices of times gone by. She draws much inspiration from folk giants such as Anne Briggs, Nick Drake and Leonard Cohen as well as the old ballads and vocal songs of Scotland and Ireland. Caitlin has played alongside artists such as Martin Carthy, Martin Simpson, The Unthanks, Sam Amidon, Rachel Sermanni, Emily Portman, Rachel Newton, The Lake Poets and The Rails. She played her debut Cambridge Folk Festival in 2019, where she was a selected highlight on The Den Stage.
In 2021 she released her latest single ‘A Whisper of Light’ which is also available on Bandcamp, Spotify and Apple Music. Visit her website for more.
“..she sings with a singular clear-eyed intensity of her own.” Folk Radio
“Scottish folk singer Caitlin Gilligan creates an array of truly timeless ballads, varying from good old-fashioned storytelling to the occasional protest song. A celebrated performer wherever she pops up…” RGM